Three Percent Podcast

Chad, Mauro Javier Cardenas (Aphasia), and NYRB publisher Edwin Frank kick off season 14 by talking about entropy, Gaddis's humor, how best to approach reading this book (fast and out of control), the little plot hints that are left to figure out, the lack of interiority in J R and how he develops characters and voice, and much more. It's a great time, a good introduction for anyone approaching the novel for the first time, and includes some random publishing gossip and a lament for proofreaders.

This week's music is "Entropy" by El Ten Eleven.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch the next episode on Wednesday, December 23rd where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements. Here's where you can find the complete reading schedule.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

This is a bonus episode in which Chad and Brian talk about three different essays on Ada, two boring ones by academic males, and an incredible chapter from Azar Nafisi's That Other World. There is good banter, a lot of jokes, and a true appreciation for this novel. Plus, Chad throws down a very unpopular hot take at the end while teeing up next season's book.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch the kick off of Season 14 on Wednesday, December 16th at 3pm where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements.

And be sure to get in touch if you'd like to be a guest on Season 14 featuring  J R by William Gaddis.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

After a bit of business banter about publishing mergers and the future of books, Chad and Brian break down the final two parts of Ada, or Ardor, debating the purpose of the book as a whole, whether the ending "works," the unreliable unreliableness of Van Veen, and much more. On next week's episode, they'll talk about three essays on Ada: "Nabokov's Ada and the Texture of Time" by Dwight A. Yates, "Nabokov's Ada as Science Fiction" by Roy Arthur Swanson, and the "Heaven and Hell" chapter from Azar Nafisi's That Other World.

This week's music is "Spring by Summer Fall" by Blonde Redhead.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch episode 12 live on Wednesday, December 2nd at 3pm where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements.

And be sure to get in touch if you'd like to be a guest on Season 14 featuring  J R by William Gaddis.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

As Chad and Brian finish part III of Ada, or Ardor, they talk about Ada and Van's reunion, the passage of time within this book, moustaches, who knows what about whom, and much more.

This week's music is "Endless Night" by Holy Motors.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch episode 11 live on Friday, November 27th at 3pm where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements.

And be sure to get in touch if you'd like to be a guest on this season (or the next, which is on J R by William Gaddis), or if you have any critical articles on Ada that you think we should read.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

Following a long discussion about what actually happens on this podcast (spoiler: definitely not critical analysis), Chad and Brian dive into Part III of Ada, or Ardor, asking what the point of whole book is, what type of fragmented postmodernism Nabokov is playing with, the passage of time and action in this novel, and the varied responses to Ada's cinematic appearance. There's also a couple deaths, a lot of talk about the philosophy of time, and a number of goofy jokes.

This week's music is "Bamboo" by Monster Rally.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch episode 10 live next Wednesday where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements.

And be sure to get in touch if you'd like to be a guest on this season (or the next, which is on J R by William Gaddis), or if you have any critical articles on Ada that you think we should read.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

In a rather subdued (re: election night hangover) episode, Chad and Brian discuss the relationship between cinema and writing, photos and memory, and what seems to be Nabokov's relationship to movies as art. They also talk about the screwball comedy nature of Van and Ada being found out, discuss the way in which part II differs from part I, learn a bit about Ada's engagement, and head into part III, with grand hopes for how Nabokov's book will turn out.\

This week's music is "Twin Cinema" by The New Pornographers. (It should not have taken eight episodes to realize how fitting this song is for this season.)

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch episode 9 live next Wednesday where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

From the International House of Prostitutes to the reunion of Ada and Van, this week's episode is quite a trip. Chad and Brian talk about dreams, John Garner, Martin Amis on "obscure" and "difficult" novels, how to actually pronounce Van, and much more.

This week's music is "Money" by Widowspeak.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch episode 8 live next Wednesday where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

Chad and Brian wrap up Part One of Ada, or Ardor—which features a duel, multiple deaths, an existential diatribe, and canes—and move onto Part Two, which is very Pynchon-esque. They get to dive into Van's "philosophical novel," ideas of time, questions about Terra, and much more. This episode is as fun and wild as the book itself!

This week's music is "Riding Solo" from the Spanish indie rock band Hinds.

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch episode 7 live next Wednesday where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

A family dinner, a picnic in the woods—what could be more innocent? Well, in Ada, or Ardor, everything is tinged with a baseline feeling of "kind of creepy," especially the "passionate pump-joy exertions." Chad and Brian break it all down, talking about Demon, unraveling Nabokovian puns, finding subtle hints about Van's true parentage, and, at the end, unveiling Season 14's book.

This week's music is Will Butler's "Close My Eyes."

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch episode 6 live next Wednesday where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statements.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.

Things shift in Ada, or Ardor this week, with Van's second trip to Ardis being much darker, much more perverse and troubling than the first, "more innocent" summer with Ada. There's also another couple hints about Terra, and the possiblity of Ada having another lover . . . And, as is par for the course, some amazing writing from Nabokov.

This week's music is "Reset" by Rich Aucoin, another protest anthem of sorts from his new America album. (With another great, powerful video.)

If you'd prefer to watch the conversation, you can find it on YouTube along with all our past episodes. You can watch episode 5 live next Wednesday where you'll also have the opportunity to ask questions, make comments, or correct inaccurate statments.

Follow Open Letter, Chad Post, and Brian Wood for random thoughts and information about upcoming guests.

Be sure to order Brian's book, Joytime Killbox, which is now officially available at better bookstores everywhere thanks to BOA Editions.

You can also support this podcast and all of Open Letter's activities by making a tax-deductible donation through the University of Rochester.